I checked some statistics for sales in Norway, which is a rather small market. The X3 is best selling model with a good margin. F20 (1-series) and F10 (5-series) are even on second place, and the F30 (3 series) is only fourth. The 3-series used to be the best seller, and I think it will climb again now that it is available as a Touring (very popular in Norway). While sedans are very popular in USA and China, they are not in Norway.

I think that statistics shows that 3/4 of such sedans as the 3er, VW Passat Caravan (and other brands) are sold in Germany in Touring/Caravan form; such cars are in vast majority company cars.
Other global markets put elegance in the first place, the cars reflect personal taste and not a company "transport", therefore Sedan has a much bigger importance.

Mercedes is in all probability going to heavily answer the expectations of Asian and American markets with the new 2013 S class and the new 2014 C class.

The new 2013 S-class exterior styling reminds me of some retro fluid elegance that was poured into a modern form. This, combined with the sheer size and a yacht appearance, makes a very imponent appearance. The design is restrained, and as such it will look good even after 20 years.
Americans and the Asian market are going to love it.
I personally have only one problem; the command panel patched with a peace of plastic with the navigation/menu screen into a long "info" display. It looks as melded in a cheap Chinese factory.

I saw only renderings/drawings of the new 2014 C-class on a computer screen, so I reserve the final appreciation.
From what I saw, the new car is going to be considerably longer. The front doors are therefore very coupe like, elongated and low, the passenger dome is like a big medieval bow and the butt is short and crisp. The bonnet is very long, the impression comes from it being quite slowly falling into an impressive grill.
The C 2014 class is not a sedan anymore, it is a full limousine.
For European everyday life far too long; I would stuck in the traffic of the Italian cities on the first occasion.
For American roads it's going to be perfect, Asians love such long forms (3er got elongated for the Chinese market as you can remember).

never seen so much rubbish written in a single post.
whichever way you look at it F20 has been a success and certainly has a lot more road presence than both Golf and A3 put together.

BMW 1er has more road presence than BOTH Golf and A3 put together???
Incredible.
So all those hundreds of thousands of sold Golfs are hiding themselves in the woods, considering that Audi A3 alone reaches the numbers of the 1er.

So this F20 success is selling as good as 9 years old prehistoric A3.
Private consumers bought almost twice as much Golf Plus (higher roof model that was thought as a NICHE model) that is also prehistoric, old and it's going to have a successor in a year time.

The majority of our family friends drive BMWs; new models should total some 20 cars.
I wanted a new compact. BMW has the best compact; technologically. However, I'm not going to bring that design in my garage.

The 3 series sales (Europe) give a good lesson: sedan is what we would buy (the emotions), a caravan (practicality) is what gets brought home.
Two completely different things.
A decisive factor also for SUV success.

In addition to the above let's consider the European car market fall and sharp economic climate. Companies (cca. 80% of sales for Audi, BMW) are trimming every expense.
One of the main factors of luxury is how much width interior space is there for driver and passenger. The worst thing in a car is when you have to keep your elbows glued to your body.

A3 Sportback (new) offers 1.453mm front width; Golf VII 1.469mm and BMW 3 series 1.451mm.
A3 Sportback has the same "day to day" use value of a BMW 3 series Caravan, is less long and far less expensive. The interior driver/co-driver space is on the same level.
What do you think is going to get brought home in an economic downturn? Emotions? How well you can speed through road bends on the occasional weekend trip?
By the way, I'm not talking about space on back seats, since I'm not a cab/taxi driver.

The drawing of the 2er Gran Coupe series looks very narrow. The 1 series has a sort of a cramped interior of a VW Polo (small city car). You must keep your elbows between your knees.
So what is this 2er Gran Coupe drawing? a prolonged sleek stylish Polo? The 2er Gran coupe needs to get ENLARGED and that ASAP.

If you think the car is too small, you should buy a bigger car. Remember there is a 5 series and 7 series for those who need huge cars. If the smallest car from BMW is also large, then they will miss out on a big market of people who want smallish cars, like me. I think the 1 series is already is a bit on the large side. I would like to see it narrower and lighter. I am 189 cm tall, and there is plenty of room for my elbows.

My wife is complaining about the car being too wide, making it more difficult to park than our previous cars. She would prefer a slightly smaller car next time.

If I had a choice between the Golf and a Polo, I would take the Polo. I also used to prefer the Compact version of the 3 series (E36 and E46) over the sedan/coupe.

If you think the car is too small, you should buy a bigger car. Remember there is a 5 series and 7 series for those who need huge cars.
If the smallest car from BMW is also large, then they will miss out on a big market of people who want smallish cars, like me. I think the 1 series is already is a bit on the large side. I would like to see it narrower and lighter. I am 189 cm tall, and there is plenty of room for my elbows.

My wife is complaining about the car being too wide, making it more difficult to park than our previous cars. She would prefer a slightly smaller car next time.

If I had a choice between the Golf and a Polo, I would take the Polo. I also used to prefer the Compact version of the 3 series (E36 and E46) over the sedan/coupe.

I have two cars.
One narrow (and shorter) that I use when I go in the old part of the Italian city nearby, when I go to the garden shop at peak hours (droves of women maneuvering in and out of parking lots) and for similar tasks when I don't care if the s cheap car gets bumped.
The majority of Italians and also French have similar "no-bump worry cars" for their chaotic cities.
I don't see any common sense in stuffing a superbly engineered BMW car into such a mess and in narrow parking lots.
Cheaper mass market cars are meant for such utility purposes.

The other "real" car is then the car of choice.
5 series was made purposefully to have plenty of space for the rear passengers.
Rear seats are so seldom used by me, that I don't need more than provisional rear seats; the rear doors and seats are hugely practical however: the coat, shopping bags, handbags, books and many other things get a ride on them and are at hand. Reason why I would not buy (again) a 2 door car; terribly impractical.

I don't want a long car; and I don't see any reason why would I drive around a bus behind my driving seat.
Long cars are a cliche of the long past, when the loving husband took his wife and all of his children with him for a drive and a picnic. Okay, in Saudi Arabia, where women are not permitted to drive and one man has many wives, the situation is mayhaps different (if the good women don't get into a fight with each other).

There is a huge world market, from Europe to Asia, where shorter Luxury cars are in high demand.
There is a huge difference between a premium car and a luxury car.
Audi is a premium car. Lexus is a premium car.
Both are derivatives of high-end mass market brands and technology.
Technology is going forward, some mass market brands managed to push themselves into High-end mass market brands (like VW).
Next logical step was to make premium derivatives of their technological know-how (Audi, Lexus,...)

BMW and Mercedes overslept the trend. Instead of making a clear boundary and pushing into Luxury they even wanted to compete with the mass-market brands (Chyrsler, Rover).
Maybach showed that Mercedes did not understand what Luxury means. Mercedes stands for high level car engineering; however a good engineer and technical knowledge has nothing to do with the world of aristocratic touch that distinguished a Rolls-Royce, Bentley and other brands.
If you once asked about the engine power of a Rolls you got the answer "sufficient".

I think most BMW customers don't want a luxury car. What has traditionally been the trade mark from BMW, is that it gives a more involving driving experience than competing brands. That is why so many BMW enthusiasts are upset about BMW making a FWD car. What I (and most of my friends) want from a BMW, is very quick and accurate response from the pedals and steering. It should be practical like a family car, but feel like a sports car to drive. For the last 40 years, BMW has been the best brand to provide this type of car, but the competitors are catching up.

I think a further move towards more luxury would allow other brands to take the role of being the leading sporty family cars.

Well, BMW and Mercedes must be different from Premium brands (as Audi or Lexus). It's their only advantage (they don't have mass-market resources).
Their technology is one step above Premium brands, now it's necessary to show the difference also to the eye and touch.

Mercedes is already on the task.
They're going to divide the brand into two parts.
Luxury cars from C-class and above.
Premium FWD with A, B class, the SUV, CLA 4 door coupe and similar variants.

The new 2014 C-class is not only getting much longer, the interior will remind heavily on the new 2013 S-class interior. The new C-class is going to become a mini S-class; a perfect Mercedes brand-perception solution.

BMW 3 series has a history of its own and a similar idea would be terrible.
Some ten years ago there was an article in a German newspaper, where the BMW CEO at the time said, that BMW was never as long as Mercedes cars and is not going to follow in Mercedes wake.

Now look at the 3 series.
The E36 (year 1991) was 4433mm long, had a 2.700mm long wheelbase (BMW 1series today) and it's interior width was 1.425mm (from driver to co-driver doors).
The new 3 series is 4.624mm long, with a 2.810mm long wheelbase.
The interior width has gone from 1.425mm to 1.451mm; only +2,6cm!!

I understand that BMW could not ignore the competition and not make it's car longer. The new 3 series in now perfect also for rear passengers. No problem.
However, offering the same cramped narrow interior-width of 20 years ago??? No go.
Even a one step lower compact car like Audi A3 offers significantly more elbow room.

The idea of making a 2er Gran Coupe is great.
A revival of the E36 would be marvelous; a much better idea that the CLA that is only Premium (FWD) and is not looking that good in final serial version.
However, if the interior remains as wide as in a sub-compact mass-market car, even the BMW technical content is not going to be enough to make the car stand apart from Audi A3 sedan and Mercedes CLA.

I think what is most important is for BMW to keep the upcoming 2 and new 1 the same size forever. They need something small for small families or those who like small cars. Outside of a z4 you have no options with BMW. I know the industry as a whole has made larger cars but there is nothing wrong with a small car. Heck Nissan made the 370 smaller than the 350. If they make a 2 small like an e36-e46 sized car with a nice sleek roof line they can really hit it out of the park in my book. I don't know if that would sell enough to make money but I can hope. I like the size of the 1m but I do think it's a little tall.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. The 3, 5, 7, every single series from BMW has grown in size since their inception, and I'd hate to see the 1&2 suffer from this as well. They're SUPPOSED to be the entry level, light, tossable, sporty cars! The F30 3 series is the same kind of size as an E39 5 series. The cars are growing too much and need to stop!

Whats with BMW introducing all these new models? First the 4 series is enough now the 2 series? All these numbers and GT are starting to confuse me. I strongly Mercedes approach, dont just suddenly release completely new model day after day. Build on the 1 series and call it something related to the 1 series i.e. 1 series GT or something, NOT a 2 series... I have a feeling by the end of this decade, BMW will have created AT LEAST up to 10 series.

This totally defeats the whole purpose of the tradition and history that these numbers mean. The 3 series, 5 series, and 7 series have established an extremely successful name throughout history. Now BMW is just bringing out the 2 and 4 series out of nowhere.